New Bedford airport runways to close for reconstruction

NEW BEDFORD — Both runways at the New Bedford Regional Airport will be closed for more than three days next week for reconstruction of the runway intersection.

STEVE DeCOSTA

NEW BEDFORD — Both runways at the New Bedford Regional Airport will be closed for more than three days next week for reconstruction of the runway intersection.

The closure will begin at 9 p.m. Monday and continue until 6 a.m. Friday. Construction will continue around the clock to limit interruptions to air traffic.

The work is part of a $13 million project to update the airport infrastructure, said manager Erick D'Leon.

"The work that's being done right now is the reconstruction of the existing runway. Basically, it's new asphalt, new lighting, new signs. It will essentially be a whole new runway," he said.

"The ugly truth is that, sooner or later, we have to do the intersection, so we try to schedule it so it will have the least impact," D'Leon said.

The work also will include extending each runway by 200 feet "to add a safety buffer," D'Leon said. The pavement will be grooved to improve traction, he said.

The airport will remain open for helicopter operations and all administrative functions and car rental facilities. The Airport Grille Restaurant and other airport businesses will continue to operate.

Cape Air, which operates flights from New Bedford to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, said the suspension of flights will have little effect on its business.

Although "this time of year is our busiest, ... we knew about this well in advance so we closed out all inventory" during the runway closure, spokesman Trish Lorino said.

D'Leon said he hopes the project will boost the economic benefit the airport brings to the area.

"Our goal is to take these infrastructure updates and really go after some corporate business development, whether it's an aviation-related business itself that we can attract or whether it's working with economic development to say, 'Hey, this is another aspect that we can pitch to companies.'

"We want to keep attracting business." D'Leon said. "It's important for us and I think it's a key development for the city, trying to move forward developing business and jobs."

According to a release from the mayor's office, the regional airport is a hub of economic activity that supports jobs for 234 employees, with a total estimated payroll of $8.3 million. D'Leon said the airport contributes $26 million annually to the area's economy.